CLEMSON: The records aren’t pretty on either side this time around for the Palmetto Bowl, but that didn’t deter Clemson coach Dabo Swinney from saying a lot of pretty things about South Carolina and many of the individual Gamecocks during his Tuesday press conference to preview Saturday’s showdown at Williams-Brice Stadium.
Of course, after his kind words towards USC coach Shane Beamer to begin his opening statement, Swinney turned his attention to Gamecock quarterback LaNorris Sellers. Swinney no doubt has the memory seared into his brain of Sellers breaking tackles and scoring the winning touchdown in Death Valley last season.
Sellers may not have the overall numbers of last season, but Swinney knows that Sellers is still the engine of the Gamecock offense. He made it a point of saying his defensive guys have got to do a better job of getting him on the ground.
Swinney also spoke highly of Gamecock receiver Nyck Harbor, emphasizing that his speed is unique, as he showed in the 80-yard touchdown catch at Texas A&M. He also is impressed with their defensive ends in Dylan Stewart and Bryan Thomas Jr., and he mentioned Jalon Kilgore and Brandon Cisse from the secondary, adding that he remembers Cisse from his days at NC State.
The Tigers are 6-5 and have won three in a row to become bowl eligible. The Gamecocks are 4-7, and the Palmetto Bowl will be their final game of the season. Clemson has won 36 straight games over teams with losing records.
Home field has not been an advantage in recent seasons. The last home victory was by Clemson in 2018. The Tigers will be going for their sixth straight win at Williams-Brice Stadium.
Clemson leads the all-time series 73-44-4. The Tigers have won eight of the last ten meetings, but the teams have split the last four games. USC is a 2.5 point favorite.
Some key comments from Swinney
- Lot of respect for Shane Beamer and how he does things, neither team happy with the record, it all starts with Sellers on offense, they did a poor job against him, Harbor is probably their most improved player. He’s a handful.
- USC has done a good job of late of getting their playmakers the ball, lot of shots down the field, they’ve got to play well on defense and contain the quarterback.
- South Carolina’s two defensive ends are very good, feels the linebackers are good, Kilgore has played a lot of football, remembers Cisse from his NC State days, they are a four down deam and executes it well.
- Have to be prepared on special teams in the return game because of Swain and Harbor as return men.
- Doesn’t know how many missed tackles they had on Sellers last season but it was crazy, his defensive guys know you’ve got to do a great job to get him down, he’s strong and can break tackles, have to get 11 to the ball.
- Wants both teams to handle the result with class, almost had a fight last year, nasty scene and he and Beamer have talked about it, no flag planting, he was there in 2004 when the fight broke out and that was an ugly scene.
- His final home game in Tuscaloosa at Alabama was against South Carolina. His first visit to Williams-Brice was as a GA at Alabama in 1993.
- Five game losing streak to Gamecocks was a tough time because his teams were good teams during that stretch.
- Doesn’t matter if you’re in the playoffs or in the ACC Championship game, it’s all about this game, and he hopes that never changes, the value of this moment is important to him, you want this to be a good memory, not a bad one.
- Very pleased with the first team offensive line against Furman, two new starters did well.
- Not surprised they are the underdogs, lost to them last season, playing at their place, they have Sellers.
- You don’t win these games if your best players don’t play well, it’s a championship game, they hand out a trophy after the game.
- Can’t let Sellers get comfortable, got to change up looks and you’ve got to win your match ups to have success against him.